Sam Van Aken – The Tree of 40 Fruit

Imagine a tree that produces 40 different varieties of stone fruits including peaches, plums, cherries and almonds. This was the dream of Sam Van Aken when he decided to graft together his passions of art, conservation and gardening to create the Tree of 40 Fruit. The trees which there are currently 21 of in the world, began their life as an art project to create a beautiful tree that blossomed pink, white and crimson. What Sam never imagined was that he would be diving deep into the world of grafting and conserving both heirloom and antique fruits. Make sure to watch this talk and learn why fruit conservation is so important and how old the oldest plum is!